Stretch your dollars traveling abroad

The dollar fell 0.6 percent to $1.5577 per euro this week, bad news for travelers getting ready to jet to Europe for a summer fling.

While you can’t do much about the exchange rate, you have some control over how you get cash or pay for items while traveling internationally, whether you’re hitting France or Argentina. The New York Times’ Matt Gross has this helpful post on how to avoid fees:

Credit card companies like Visa, MasterCard and American Express typically tack on 1 to 3 percent for any purchase made overseas. And banks often charge a foreign-exchange fee (usually a percentage of your withdrawal) whenever you use their cards at ATMs abroad.

Visa and MasterCard charge 1 percent for foreign purchases, and banks may add another fee. Call your bank or credit card issuer before your trip to find out what they charge. Bankrate.com and IndexCreditcards.com have done some of the legwork for you by listing the fees of major banks.

Commerce Bank and Capital One do not charge currency conversion fees, making them good choices to have in a foreign country. Neither charges fees for foreign currency withdrawals if you use an ATM card linked to its bank accounts.

Washington Mutual and Zions Bank also have relatively low rates. They charge 1 percent on ATM cash withdrawals, and 1 percent on Visa and MasterCard purchases. That’s much better than the typical 2 to 3 percent fees you’ll find with other major cards like Citibank and Chase. If you have certain checking accounts with Charles Schwab and Fidelity, they reimburse customers for all ATM fees (though Fidelity’s Web site says it doesn’t waive the 1 percent foreign transaction fee charged by Visa). Don’t forget to check with your credit union, which often offers low or no transaction fees for ATM withdrawals.

As I wrote in an earlier column, many travel experts recommend putting major purchases like hotels on a credit card, using your ATM to get local currency and withdrawing large amounts each time to limit fees. Also, avoid getting a cash advance on your credit card, or you’ll get socked with a cash-advance fee, an ATM fee and finance charges. There’s usually no grace period, so you’ll pay periodic finance charges from the moment you withdraw the money.